


The Man in the Mirror

by Hirra



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Cats, M/M, Mind Screw-ish, weird shit happens
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-21
Updated: 2018-07-10
Packaged: 2018-12-18 03:31:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,174
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11865777
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hirra/pseuds/Hirra
Summary: Kiku Honda was in the middle of class when he heard the announcement.Herakles Karpouzis, a sophomore, was found dead in his room earlier that morning.Then, to Kiku's surprise, he finds Herakles talking to him in his bedroom's mirror as if he was still alive.





	1. Hello World

Kiku Honda was in the middle of Programming Language class when he heard the announcement.

 

Herakles Karpouzis, a History sophomore, was found dead in his room earlier that morning. His funeral would be held on the next day if any student wanted to attend.

 

Just as the intercom finished the announcement, the rumor mill began its work. Kiku started to hear the words "suicide", "murder" and "just like the others". He was aware of some of those rumors. In the past three years, around six young men of high school and college age had been found dead in the town, plus more in other cities. While the authorities ruled their deaths as suicides, the truth was that no cause of death was found in any of the victims. None presented injuries or traces of overdose. At most, they knew was that the victims were described by their families as presenting odd behavior a few days before dying, such as becoming more quiet and introverted. Students were starting to believe that maybe Karpouzis was the newest case.

 

He decided to pay no mind to it. It was never a good thing to speculate about a person's death in such a vapid way, he thought.

 

After class was over, Kiku packed his things and walked back home. He had no plans to attend the funeral as the guy was from another class and they didn't talk to each other. However, he thought of maybe bringing a flower to his grave. After all, even if he never knew Herakles, a death at such a young age was always tragic.

 

Upon returning home, he ate dinner with his parents, finished his school assignments for the day, and took a quick shower before going to bed. After changing into his night clothes, looked into his bedroom's mirror in order to dry and brush his hair.

 

To his surprise, Herakles Karpouzis was sitting on the other side of the mirror, looking at him.

 

"Who... who are you?" He said, because there was no way this was actually happening. He had to be dreaming.

 

"My name is Herakles, uhh... I'm in second year of History. We've seen each other on the halls or the campus’ cafeteria, I think." Responded Herakles as he picked up a cat that walked close to him. His voice was slow and quiet, as if the mere act of talking were exhausting.

 

Kiku shook his head in disbelief, "You... you died this morning. The dean gave us the announcement."

 

Herakles had a confused look on his face. He seemed to gather his thoughts while gently stroking the cat behind its ears, "But I’m not dead. How can I be dead if I'm talking to you?"

 

"You are inside the mirror."

 

Herakles seemed even more confused than before, "I really don't know what you're talking about."

 

"This is not real." Kiku said more to himself, "I barely know you."

 

"Well...I like sleeping, cats and Ancient Greek history."

 

Kiku sat on the chair next to his desk and tried to compose himself for a moment. Maybe it was stress from College or perhaps the announcement affected him more than he thought, since he had no other way to explain why he was talking to a dead person he had never met.

 

At the end, he let out a resigned breath and decided to play along. This would be most likely forgotten by morning.

 

"So, about that cat..."

 

* * *

 

_I must be feeling pretty lonely._

 

Kiku almost felt sad when he said goodbye to the man in the mirror in order to go to bed. He and Herakles had spent almost four hours conversing and only stopped when Kiku insisted that he didn't want to fall asleep in the middle of Computational Linguistics, or any class for that matter. He had to admit that, even if he had just talked to a figment of his imagination, that had been the most interesting chat he had for a long while. In his year and a half at college, he never had been particularly close to any of his classmates.

 

Herakles seemed to be a History student with an interest in Ancient Greece. His mother was actually Greek, but moved away before he was born. When he wasn't studying, he often took naps with his cat and others he found roaming close to his dorm or his mother's house.

 

Kiku knew that his Herakles couldn't be anywhere close to the real one that had just passed away. Maybe, in his loneliness, he had projected the image of a friend and, because the announcement at the campus had left an impression on him, he used the likeliness of Herakles Karpouzis as a base.

 

The thoughts remained in his mind as sleep took over him.

 

* * *

 

Kiku was in his bedroom putting on his clothes for the day when he heard the soft meow of a cat nearby.  He turned around and found the source at his bed.

 

The culprit was a calico bobcat sleeping lazily on the bed's pillow. Kiku recognized it as Corporal, Herakles' cat. As much as he loved cats, his parents did not and, as a result, cats had never been allowed at home. Worried that either his mother or father would hear Corporal, he gently but quickly picked it up.

 

"I'm sorry, Corporal, but cats aren't allowed here. Please go back to your owner."

 

He set Corporal on the floor and the cat walked away. Satisfied, he put his laptop on his bag and went downstairs for breakfast. After finishing his oatmeal, he bid farewell to his mother and went on his way to college.

 

While he was in the bus, he noticed a woman carrying her pet cat on the street, and at that moment he realized something: He had picked up a cat that was not real whose owner was a person that was also not real.

 

Once he arrived at front building of the campus, he took out his phone and called his mother. He would go back home late that day since he had a funeral to attend.


	2. Party pooper

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author swears things will make (slightly) more sense later on.

If there was any word that would describe how Kiku felt at Herakles' funeral, it would be awkward.

 

The place was small filled with flowers and people speaking either English or Greek. It reminded him of uncomfortable family meetings with his relatives from Japan. The casket was closed and above it was a photograph of a child Herakles with his mother in what seemed to be an old birthday party.

 

He didn't recognize any of the people there and felt too distant from the whole thing to actually start a conversation. How could he explain the fact that he had spoken to the man in the casket yesterday afternoon if they had never met before?

 

Perhaps he was projecting his distress a bit too much, for a young man came in and offered him a styrofoam cup of coffee from the terrible coffee machine nearby.

 

"Friends with him?" 

 

Kiku turned his attention towards the guy. He was tall, with short, wild hair and a healthy tan. With a small nod, he accepted the coffee and slowly sipped at it without too much thought. "My name is Kiku Honda, I'm in Comp Sci at the same college he was in."

 

"Sadik Adnan. Met feta breath back in High School."

 

"I'm sorry."

 

"Don't be. We weren't that close anyway."

 

"To be honest, me neither. I just met him a few weeks ago." lied Kiku.

 

The conversation ended right then and there, with both of them feeling very uncomfortable talking about a person they barely met in a funeral both quietly attended out of politeness.

 

Sadik, perhaps not wanting to be rude, said, "Uhh... if ya need anything, just find m'name on Facebook and I'll answer. See ya, dude." And with that, he left the building.

 

Kiku went to sleep that night without seeing either Herakles or Corporal.

 

* * *

 

"Say, Kiku, what's Tokyo like?"

 

The question snapped Kiku away from his internal thoughts. He looked at Herakles, who was sitting on Kiku's chair. Corporal, according to the man, was outside taking a walk.

 

"That... depends on what you want to visit there, I guess."

 

Herakles rested his head over his hands while his elbows were over his knees. They had been talking for a couple of minutes about inane things like cats and the weather.

 

"Well, I went to Athens with my mother when I was seven. I don't really remember what we visited, just that I thought everything was very old and pretty. Sometimes I just end up thinking what a place like Japan may be like, because I often hear it is so different from Europe and the US."

 

"The best way I could describe Tokyo would be... huge and cramped, actually. There's buildings and people everywhere, but the places are much smaller than here in the States. I remember thinking my uncle's apartment being almost the same size as my parent's room."

 

That ended up making Herakles chuckle a little bit. He seemed a bit more enthusiastic -as much as a quiet and slow-paced person could be- than before.

 

"I hope I can go there someday."

 

Kiku leaned on the desk and said, "You know, I have an idea. What about we... wait...", his expression darkened as realization came over him. "Wait, this isn't actually happening. You are dead." Disbelief slowly took over his voice as he looked directly at Herakles.

 

For his part, Herakles looked at him with plain confusion. "Kiku, I already told you I'm fine and I don't know why you insist on that."

 

"I went to your funeral yesterday. I saw your mother crying with a bunch of people speaking in Greek. I talked to this Sadik guy that said he met you before. I'm sure of it." Kiku's face was filled in dread and he rubbed his eyes with his hands as if doing that would make Herakles disappear like some sort of bad dream. However, the dead man was still sitting on Kiku's chair.

 

On the other hand, Herakles' expression took an angry look once the name Sadik was mentioned. "Is that what this is all about? Did that bastard came up with that idea!?" His gaze was becoming more and more furious and voice was getting louder.

 

"No! I went there on my own! We barely talked!" Kiku screamed with exasperation. "I would never lie about something like this!"

 

Their argument was interrupted when Kiku's mother knocked on his door, asking what was going on and why was Kiku yelling.

 

He quickly turned his attention towards the door and responded as calmly as he could muster at the moment, "It's nothing. I just was on the phone with someone and we had an argument." His mother's footsteps became quieter as she left somewhere else, seemingly satisfied with her son's answer.

 

When he turned back, Herakles wasn't there anymore.

 

* * *

 

If he was being completely honest with himself, Kiku would have admitted he had woken up the following day very nervous.

 

A quick check of his room showed that no one but himself was there. There was no trace of Herakles or Corporal. Kiku felt both relieved and a bit sad. Even if he was talking to an imaginary person, he didn't like the fact that they ended up arguing. However, he pushed those thoughts away as he got ready for College.

 

Thus, he was surprised when he came back to room after a shower and saw a man leaning on the mirror.

 

"Yo!"

 

"Gahh!"

 

With that, he stumbled and fell unceremoniously on the floor, with further embarrassment avoided by his towel.

 

"Woah! Sorry for scaring you." The man slowly approached Kiku with his eyes closed and extended his hand, "Take my hand. I won't see a thing."

 

Kiku was dumbfounded to the point he couldn't form words. He silently took the man's hand while using the other to make sure the towel wouldn't fall off. After that, he started to calm down and had a closer look at the other person.

 

The man was very young, easily twenty or younger. His hair was bright shade of blond and went wild especially on the left side. He spoke English very well, albeit with a slightly noticeable accent that relayed the fact that his mother tongue was something else. The young man also seemed to exude a very energetic aura.

 

Kiku had so many questions he didn't know where to begin. In the end, he gave up and went to asking the basics.

 

"Excuse me but, who are you and why are you in my room?"

 

The young man took the question as a cue to open his eyes again. They were a very deep blue. He gave a bright smile and responded.

 

"Name's Matthias. I came here for you because Hera got pissed off yesterday about something and I think he really likes you.  So, put some clothes on and let's get going! We kinda need you to snap him outta his funk."

 

As much as Kiku was excited to talk to Herakles again and resolve argument of the previous day, his brain kept making more and more questions about the whole thing.

 

"Who's we?"

 

"Me and the others. I'm sure you'll love them. Especially Feli, everyone loves Feli. Ludwig and Lukas may be sticks in the mud sometimes, but they are cool beans, I swear!"

 

After changing into something other than a towel, Kiku realized something. "Wait. I can't go now. I have to go to College right now. I have Database Systems at 8:00 and I can't be late."

 

Matthias just gave him a reassuring smile and took his hand. "Don't you worry! Everyone's at College anyway". He yanked Kiku's hand and dragged him. "Come on! We gotta go."

 

Kiku never realized that, instead of leaving through the door, they both went through the room's mirror.


	3. I'm sure we'll be fine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for being really slow. Author has no excuses other than now being a full-time worker and a very slow writer.

He didn't remember exactly how it happened, but all of the sudden he was sitting on the grass at the campus talking and eating pasta for breakfast with four people he had never met before.

Kiku had to admit Matthias was right on something: everybody loves Feliciano.

It helped that he stuck out like a sore thumb next to other guys. The Italian-accented English was also kind of adorable.

Ludwig and Lukas seemed way quieter and serious. It was almost as if they were meant to counter the energy and loudness of Matthias and Feliciano.

Kiku liked them all.

(He would never admit it out loud, but seeing Feliciano use his fingers to twist Ludwig's frown into a smile was pretty funny. And so was Lukas shoving Matthias to the dirt whenever he got too close with his mouth full of food.)

"So, I guess Matthias told you why we wanted to see you?" said Ludwig while eating pasta from the container Feliciano had brought in.

(According to Matthias, pasta meals became a common occurrence ever since he met Feliciano, and while he couldn't complain about the quality, he admitted sometimes he would rather eat a burrito)

"Yes."

"Ah, good. We're sorry for asking you this. We tried to talk to him, but even Feliciano here couldn't really do much."

"Yeah! Hera doesn't talk a lot but he seemed really happy when he talked to you!" Feliciano's expression saddened as he fiddled with his fork. "And then yesterday he looked so angry and left, we got worried."

Lukas, who had spent most of the conversation just listening in, asked all of the sudden "Why did you two argue, anyway?"

At that, Kiku had lost all of his appetite and slowly set his half-empty container on the grass.

"I told him I went to his funeral and spoke with some guy that apparently he didn't got along with."

Everyone else just stared him, a bit confused. Kiku did not like it at all. Matthias was the one to break the silence.

"Wow... yeah. That sounds like a pretty mean joke to be honest." He said with a mouthful of pasta. "I mean, I'm all for bad jokes but that one seems more mean than funny, dude."

Kiku was getting more and more uncomfortable with each passing moment. The guilt from the other day's argument was not helping.

"I..." he stammered, "I will try to talk to him... I can't guarantee anything, though."

With that, he got up, picked up his bag, gave a polite bow, and left in a hurry.

* * *

Kiku had left so suddenly that he realized a bit too late he had no idea of where Herakles was. Fortunately, there was a park he passed all the time on his way to home from college, and Herakles was sitting there with Corporal in his arms.

As Kiku approached him, both of them kept staring at each other. It was as if both were too embarrassed to start talking.

In the end, they said at the same time:

"I'm sorry."

"Sorry for upsetting you."

"I'm sorry, too. I think I went a bit overboard."

They didn't say anything else, as no more words were needed. The stares turned into smiles, and the smiles became quiet laughter. Kiku, now feeling much better than before, sat next to Herakles and said:

"I know we've known each other for very little, but I'd rather spend more time with you than argue and leave it at that."

Herakles nodded in agreement while petting Corporal behind the ears. And with that, they spent the midday talking about cats and other inane things.

* * *

"Kiku, dear! I didn't even see you leave!"

That... was not what Kiku expected to hear from his mother once he arrived home.

"Huh?" It was all he could manage to answer.

"I mean it! I don't think I even heard you in the stairs. Did you leave earlier? I had to put your breakfast on the fridge."

Kiku was very confused. He left at pretty much the same hour as always...

Then he remembered eating pasta in the grass outside the campus in the morning, and later chatting with Herakles for hours.

He also remembered not going to any of his classes of the day. Not looking forward to explaining that, he gave the best lie he could think of in a couple of seconds.

"I went to a café with some friends before class. That's why I left early. Sorry for not telling you."

His mother seemed satisfied with his explanation and responded "Oh! I hope you had fun then." before going back to the living room.

Once she was out of sight, he released a breath he didn't know he was holding and went upstairs to his bedroom.

* * *

The following afternoon, Kiku was walking away from campus when someone approached him.

"There ya are!"

Kiku turned around and saw Sadik Adnan running towards him.

"Sorry, dude. I jus' wanted to chat with ya for a bit."

Five minutes later they were sitting on a bench in the middle of a sunny day of May. For that same reason, Kiku had no idea why Sadik, despite wearing summer clothes, had a scarf around his neck.

Sadik seemed to notice where Kiku's eyes we looking at, for he (mercifully) responded:

"This? I know. That's why I wanted to see ya."

Sadik's expression darkened before he continued.

"Yesterday, I was just gonna sleep when someone appeared in m'room to yell and try to strangle me. He also just happened to be Herakles. "

Kiku almost got up by impulse. Instead, he accidentally dropped his bag in his shock. Sadik just sighed in resignation and picked it up.

"Look, I know it sounds crazy. I wouldn't believe myself either. Thought I was goin' mad, in fact." He took of his scarf. "And then I woke up this morning."

There, in plain sight, was Sadik's neck. It was also full of marks. Just as if someone had tried to throttle him.

"Before he left, the last thing he told me was to leave you alone."


	4. He can do no wrong

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Almost all of the fic's main players are in (finally).
> 
> Author appreciates everyone's patience.
> 
> Also available on FF.net

_Truth is, I saw him after he died._

_...Really?_

_I mean, I never met him before this. The first time I heard about him was when the headmaster announced his death._

_What the fuck is going on!?_

_I don't know._

_What did ya do to make 'im like you this much? The only thing that got 'im this riled up back in high school was when I said something about his ma._

_I don't know what's going on. But I have to tell him to stop._

_You sure? Didja see what he did to me?_

_But... you said he told you to leave me alone, right? Maybe I can convince him._

_Look, jus' don't do anything dangerous, alright?_

* * *

  
A couple days later, Kiku was eating another container of pasta with Herakles and the other guys outside of campus. All of them were quietly (or as quietly as it could be with Matthias and Feliciano) eating when Lukas looked off to the side and saw two people approaching in.

"Look at that, the lovebirds are back."

Feliciano, in his excitement at the news, nearly dropped his plate on the grass, "Really!? Oh, I'm so glad everything's alright!"

Kiku searched everyone's faces for an explanation, feeling completely lost. Herakles seemed to pick up Kiku's internal questions and responded:

"Those are Alfred and Arthur. I think they just got back together."

"Watch them break up again next week" added Ludwig, unimpressed.

"What!? No! Don't say that!" Feliciano screamed.

"Dudes, if I knew you were all gonna be asses today, I would have taken Artie here to some burgers instead."

Feliciano got up from the grass and hugged them while shoving them containers full of pasta "I'm so glad to see you here! It's not as fun when you two aren't here."

One of the two young men, the one with the glasses, turned his head and looked straight at Kiku. His face went from annoyance to excitement in less than a second and he went straight to Kiku in order to shake his hand.

"Hey dude! Nice to meetcha! Name's Alfred. The sourpuss behind me..." he said while pointing to said person, "is Arthur."

Arthur managed to yell an annoyed "Hey!" at Alfred before crossing his arms with a grouchy expression.

"A pleasure. My name is Kiku. I came here thanks to Herakles and Matthias over here."

Just as Alfred was about to return his container to Feliciano, both saw that Arthur had already sit down on the grass and was eating pasta along with the others. Alfred gasped and looked at Arthur with a face that spoke of betrayal, but the latter seemed nonplussed by it.

"What? Unlike you, most people can't live on hamburgers alone and I won't turn down Feliciano's food."

"Aww, c'mon! You said Bernie's was good!" said Alfred as he sat next to him on the grass and pouted.

"I did. Doesn't mean I want to eat there every day."

Kiku went back to sit next to Herakles and whispered to him, "I think I get what you were all saying now."

"They are always like this" Herakles whispered back.

Both of them laughed and everyone kept talking and eating.

After a while, Kiku turned over to Alfred, Arthur and Feliciano, who were chatting.

"... Say Feli, you said this was brother's recipe, right? You should ask him for more stuff. This is pretty great." To Kiku's surprise, Feliciano's seemingly perpetual smile faltered for a moment before quietly responding:

"Ah, about that... Lovino and I haven't been on speaking terms since last year."

Everyone gave him a sympathetic look, and Ludwig gave him an affectionate squeeze on the shoulder.

At the same time, Arthur was reading something on his phone when he accidentally dropped his container on his clothes. His vest was stained red with pasta sauce.

Alfred quickly turned his attention to him, "Artie, lemme help yo-"

"It's fine, I'll clean it up in the restroom. Knowing you, you'll smear it worse. Besides, I have class in half an hour." Arthur picked up his backpack and went to the closest building on campus.

Kiku decided to gather his things as well while saying "I have class soon as well. I'll see you later." and left.

* * *

  
"Um... hi there. I came here to help" said Kiku while he entered the restroom.

Arthur was dampening a piece of a paper towel on the sink when Kiku came in. He turned off the faucet and responded "Oh hey... What was your name again?"

"Kiku Honda"

"Right, sorry. I won't forget next time." Arthur said sheepishly while taking off his vest.

Kiku dampened a papel towel and did what he could to clean the garment. He didn't want to make the silence awkward, so he said the first thing that popped on his head

"So.. you and Alfred. You are together?"

Arthur stopped cleaning his vest for a moment as his head went through all over his past memories. He gave a quiet and fond laugh.

"Met the git four months ago on campus. He asked me out on date at some burger place even after I threw a teacup to his face."

"That... sounds more annoying than cute, to be honest."

"And that's what I told him. But then, I was an idiot and said 'alright, surprise me', so he took me to this joint in Downtown and one thing led to another, so at the end I thought he was more of an idiot than a creep."

"Sounds nice. I've never been in a relationship, so I don't know what would I have done in that situation. Maybe lock myself up and study until he got away."

That seemed to surprise Arthur a bit, since he raised an eyebrow at Kiku and said "Really? Ludwig said that you and Herakles were really close. Honestly, just by looking at you two I would have thought you were together."

This time was Kiku's turn to be surprised, "Huh? He and I, well, we became friends recently and we get along fine, but we haven't known each other that much to reach... that."

"Fair enough." said Arthur with a shrug. "Anyway, I have to clean this before class. I don't really want to go to the laundry room two days in a row, and I really don't want to tell mum why the vest she sent me last month is dirty with pasta sauce."

"Mothers are like that, yeah." Kiku said while cleaning one of the last spots.

"Ugh, you tell me. I love her, but I'm really going to miss being on my own once I go back to Birmingham."

Kiku paused while throwing the dirty towel on the trashcan "I'm sorry, but you said Birmingham?"

"Right, I didn't tell you. I'm here thanks to an exchange program. I'll go back home in Birmingham once the semester ends next month." said Arthur as he put his damp vest inside his backpack.

"Oh" said Kiku sadly more to himself than to anyone else. Before Arthur reached the door, however, he added.

"I know we just met today, but I hope we can see you again after you return home. Maybe on vacation or after graduation. I'm sure Alfred would be happy about that, too."

When Arthur heard Alfred's name, he froze as if time had pushed the pause button. He kept staring at nothing with a blank expression on his face for a few seconds.

"I would be happy about that, too." With that, he was gone.

Just as Arthur left the restroom, Kiku heard something break behind him. When he turned around, he noticed that one of the mirrors above the sink had cracked, almost as if someone had thrown a rock against it.

* * *

  
"What are you doing?"

"Homework" Kiku said while still typing on his laptop.

"And it's about..?"

"Just finishing up some code, nothing really complicated"

"Oh..."

Herakles sat on the right side of the bench, petting a cat Kiku didn't recognize. Kiku himself was on the left side of the bench, using his bag on top of his legs to prop up his laptop.

"Alright, I'm done. Where did you say you wanted to go?" said Kiku twenty minutes later while turning off the computer. Herakles got up from the bench, cat in arms, and motioned with his head for Kiku to follow him.

They walked for maybe a full hour until they reached the beach. They went to the overlook and just gazed at the wonder that was the sea.

"I don't know how you feel about this, but sometimes, I just like to take a moment and just think about anything that crosses into my mind."

Kiku laughed and asked "And what do you end up thinking about".

Herakles frowned in deep thought and then responded "Cats, the Acropolis, what's the real color of the planets, the price of groceries over the years, I don't know. It may look boring, but I think you should try it."

"Alright then."

Both stood there leaning on the handrail and looking at the sea for a long while. Neither said a word the entire time.

It would have been odd for other people, but Kiku actually enjoyed times of silence. While he enjoyed the company of Feliciano, Matthias, and the others, he was more of an introvert. Maybe the fact that Herakles seemed to enjoy these quiet moments as well was one of the reasons he liked being with him the most.

After almost three hours of admiring the ocean, Herakles broke the silence and asked:

"I was thinking of learning how to cook moussaka. What were you thinking about?"

"About how expensive bus fares are."

"I also thought about one time I got lost in a grocery store."

Kiku giggled.

"I thought about my Naruto phase when I was thirteen."

"And me about that time my mom destroyed a VHS copy of My Big Fat Greek Wedding" said Herakles with a smile that almost broke into laughter.

"Me about how can anyone like the taste of the marshmallows that come in cereals."

"And me about living in an apartment with ten cats once I turn thirty."

They kept going until laughter overcame both and words turned into chortles and snickers.

Once their fit died down, Herakles looked at the sunset and said:

"It's getting late, I have to go."

"Me too. I need to study for next week's exams."

Suddenly, Kiku remembered he had to talk to Herakles about something important.

"Wait! Before you leave, there's something I needed to tell you about."

"What is it?"

"I, uh..." For some strange reason, Kiku just not could not remember what he was going to say. It was as if his head was covered in fog. "um... sorry, I forgot."

Herakles just smiled and said "Maybe next time you'll remember."

And then he was gone.

Kiku felt confused for a long moment. His left hand slowly went up to touch his neck, and he didn't know why.

**Author's Note:**

> I wonder why I always get ideas when I have to sleep.
> 
> Also available on FF.net


End file.
